Wednesday, July 23, 2008

The Shloshim commemoration for Rabbi Groner ob"m will be held on 7 Menachem Av - Thursday 7 August - at Melbourne Town Hall. I assume that the reason for this venue is that they are expecting many thousands of people. I am sure that this will be a fitting tribute to a person of Rabbi Groner's stature.

The full notice, with information about parking and transport, can be found here.

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COL has just published some recordings of Rabbi Groner leading Slichos at Yeshivah Shul in past years. The three recordings can be found here, here and here..

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Thank you again to Ya'akov Livni who sent me these photos from Rabbi Groner's Hakomas Hamatzeiva last Friday 15 Tammuz. Interestingly 15 Tammuz is also the Yartzeit of the Or HaChayim HaKodosh who is also buried on Har Hazeitim.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

The following statement just appeared on the Yeshivah Community Website:

Yud Gimmel Tammuz, 5768July 16, 2008

Following the recent passing of our esteemed Shliach, Rav and Morei Da'asra, Rabbi Y. D. Groner of blessed memory, I am writing to provide some very important information.

In the weeks before his passing, Rabbi Groner issued instructions to establish a Vaad Ruchni made up of the following members:Rabbi B. CohenRabbi A. GlickRabbi C.T. GronerMr S. GurewiczRabbi Z. TelsnerRabbi S. Yurkowicz

The Vaad Ruchni will work together with the Committee of Management, providing guidance and advice on Chabad-Lubavitch ethos and teachings relating to any of the Yeshivah Centre moisdos (institutions).

In the zchus of Rabbi Groner may the entire Yeshivah Centre community work together to ensure that the Rebbe's moisdos to which Rabbi Groner, the Rebbe's Shliach, devoted his life, continue to grow from strength to strength.

Yours sincerely,

Don WolfChair-Committee of Management.

This can only be a positive undertaking. In general I am impressed with the members of the Vaad who come from diverse backgrounds and, I feel, all have the best interests of our community at heart. I look forward to seeing positive changes and improvements which I hope will begin very soon.

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I just came across this newscast from SBS Radio. Journalist Greer Fay Cashman, formerly of Sydney, reports on Rabbi Groner's funeral in Jerusalem. Some of what she said is in doubtful taste but, overall, it does give us a feeling of the occasion..

I saw this video on the Gruntig blog and was impressed by this guy's voice. There isn't much information on You Tube except for his name - Chaim Dovid Berson - and that it was filmed in Krakow in June this year.

The only other place I could find an example of his singing is in the video below. He is part of the group accompanying Chazan Simon Cohen at the Holocaust Memorial Service in Istanbul, Turkey in December last year.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Ya'akov Livni has submitted this report with photos he took of the Levaya of Rabbi Groner. Ya'akov lived in Melbourne for many years and knew Rabbi Groner well.
Thank you Ya'akov for all the time you put into this.

Oy Shehushbarnu !!!!!!

HaRav Yitschok Dovid Groner has left us...

Last Shabbos, Rabbi Groner was in Melbourne, and this Shabbos, Rabbi Groner is resting at Har HaZeitim in Yerushalayim. How the world has changed!

A number of people had urged me to record the Levaya and Kvura in Yerushalayim in photographs. Successful photographs should speak for themselves and normally do not require words. Some words, however, are necessary here. A few people know that I had serious misgivings about taking photographs. I had to consider Kovod HaMeis, the sensitivities of the family and my own inability to record such an event dispassionately. The Levaya in Melbourne received significant coverage so, with much hesitation and deliberation, I decided to attempt to take photographs with some self-imposed rules and limitations, so as to show those who were not present something of the Levaya and Kvura at Har HaZeitim. I apologize for the watermarkings, but was advised to add them. Taking these photos and writing these words has been a very difficult experience for me...

Moda'ot Evell, Bereavement Notices, are common in Israel for notifying the public of funeral details

The Shamgar funeral hall was full to overflowing, men on one side, women on the other. The assembled recited Tehillim together until the stretcher was carried out to the Chevra Kadisha van.

The variety of headgear present bears witness to how Rabbi Groner
had so profoundly touched the lives of so many people in so many walks of life

The Chevra Kadisha van leaves Shamgar for Har HaZeitim

Buses were available for those who wished to attend the Kvura at Har HaZeitim, a slow 15 minute drive away through Arab neighborhoods.

Olive trees, which lend their name to Har HaZeitim, between Har HaZeitim and Har HaBayit

Different communities have different Chelkot, sections, in various parts of the mountain

It is unlike most other cemeteries you are likely familiar with. It does not have a lush lawn nor trees nor benches to sit on. During the Jordanian occupation of part of Jerusalem beginning in 1948, the Jordanians dug up graves, dispersed bones and stole tombstones. Since the reunification of Jerusalem following the Six Day War in 1967, the Chevra Kadisha has put in a tremendous effort to collect scattered bones and tombstone fragments and put things where they belong. Even still, in parts, this cemetery does not have the ordered appearance of other cemeteries. Perhaps that is the lot of ancient burial grounds.

Looking south from Har HaZeitim

At Har HaZeitim, there are very few access roads into the cemetery; I know of only two. They are very narrow and there is room at the top of the mount for just a handful of cars to park. Buses cannot get in there at all. Arabs actually live in homes on Har Hazeitim and use this road, so traversing it can be very tricky.

After removal from the van, the stretcher was carried up many steps to the Chelkat Rabbanei Chabad. Younger bochurim together with some of us older people carried the stretcher up. The temperature steadily rose to the expected high of 34 degrees C; experienced locals brought bottles of water.

When I davened in the Yeshiva shule in Melbourne, I usually davened near the back of the shule. In his later years with reduced mobility, Rabbi Groner also davened at the back of the shule instead of his Makom Kavu'a toward the front. On several occassions in recent years, I was zocheh to have Rabbi Groner motion for me to assist him approach the Bima and he leaned on my arm for those steps. And here I was this week, assisting others in bringing Rabbi Yitzchok Dovid Groner to his final Makom Kavu'a, Menuchas Olomim! Woe unto the arm that has to be called to such duty!! Evell Mar U'Misped...

Note the very old tombstones, with rounded tops

At the gravesite, the Chevra Kadisha members covered the grave and followed Minhag Yerushalayim in their duties. Rabbi Leibel Groner spoke and cried over his brother.

Rabbi Groner was close to people from many different parts of the community

Who can forget how Rabbi Y. D. Groner cried so bitterly at the Ammud on Yom Kippur when he was informed of HaRav Perlov's passing? How difficult is the farewell!